October 7, 2018
From MeadvilleTribune.com
An Atlantic area man died Saturday after he fell out of a tree stand while hunting in woods behind his home in southwestern Crawford County, Crawford County Coroner Scott Schell said.
Ervin D. Byler, 47, of 10320 Thomas Road, Atlantic, fell from an 18-foot high tree stand while archery hunting, Schell told the Tribune.
The death has been ruled accidental due to blunt force injuries to the head and neck, Schell told the Tribune.
“It’s unknown why he fell out of the stand. He was not wearing a safety harness,” Schell said. Schell put Byler’s time of death at about 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Byler had left home in the pre-dawn hours to go hunting in woods behind the house, Schell said. However, when Byler didn’t return home after sundown Saturday, Byler’s wife and another person then went looking for him, Schell said.
The pair found Byler in the woods at least 300 yards off Thomas Road in East Fallowfield Township around 8:30 to 8:45 p.m. and then notified authorities, Schell said.
No autopsy or toxicology testing — the sampling of tissue, blood and other body fluids — will be performed, Schell said.
Fallowfield and Conneaut Lake volunteer fire departments and Pennsylvania State Police assisted the coroner’s office at the scene, Schell said.